the devil you know
by ShadowsTakeAll
Summary: The girls are reunited after a run-in with A, but everything is not what it seems. Can Spencer keep her secret safe? Or will the others experience the ultimate betrayal? [Sequel to 'the devil's name'.]
1. Chapter 1

**Heyo, Liars! This is the sequel to my story 'the devil's name', so I would highly recommend reading that before diving into this one. Not much else to say about this, other than I really hope you enjoy it, and please review if you do!**

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A week had passed, and everything had changed.

Yet, Spencer reflected as she sipped her coffee and leaned back against Aria's couch, everything was still the same. The other three were treating her more carefully, because as far as they knew she was still traumatized by what had happened with Toby, and she was playing her part well. Lies were almost second nature to her by now, and although that still didn't entirely sit well with her, she knew it was the only way to keep everything under control.

So she made sure that she seemed vulnerable, so that her friends could comfort her and swear that they would never let Toby hurt her again, and she would let out an internal sigh of relief because they were all still clueless. She had kept them in the dark for so long now that she'd forgotten what it was like to actually be honest.

Still, it was easy enough to convince the others that she really was just recovering from being kidnapped, and reeling over Toby's betrayal. A couple of times she'd engineered it so that the others would come across her while she was crying; they thought she shed her tears for Toby, and as long as they thought that, they would stay far enough away from her secret.

"Have you heard anything from Toby?" Aria asked, sitting down beside Spencer and offering her a slice of pizza.

Spencer jerked her head up, and then realized Aria hadn't been talking to her.

"No," Emily said, shaking her head. She pulled her legs up so she was sitting cross-legged on Aria's favorite armchair. "He hasn't contacted me since before…"

She trailed off, deliberately not looking at Spencer, but all of them knew where that sentence was heading. Hanna cleared her throat and said, "So, what, he's just gone AWOL?"

Spencer shrugged, feigning ignorance. She knew very well where Toby was, because Mona was keeping a close eye on him. And it was at Mona's command that Toby had dropped off the grid. "He knows that I know he's A," Spencer said. "He's probably working on the assumption that I've told you guys."

"You don't think they're going to go after you again, do you?" Aria asked worriedly. "I mean, to get back at you for escaping? And for telling us about them?"

Spencer shook her head. "Mona talked to me when I was… there," she said, which wasn't actually untrue. The next part, however, was fabricated, but it slid no less easily off her tongue. "She thought I'd figured out who they were, and what they were planning. But then she started realizing that I didn't know anything, and I think she might have even been about to let me go."

"Why?" Emily interrupted, wrapping her hands around her cup of coffee, though it provided little comfort. "Why go to all the trouble of kidnapping you if they were just going to let you go?"

"It's a little hard to torture someone when they're dead," Spencer said darkly. "Mona and Toby – they're all about the chase. The game. Watching us and tormenting us. I don't think they want to kill us."

"Still." Aria grabbed a neon yellow cushion and hugged it to her chest. "Doesn't it make you guys nervous? Knowing that Mona and Toby are out there, probably planning to… god, I don't even want to think about what they're planning."

As Spencer listened to the girls volley theories back and forth, she thought about what A really _was_ planning. Undoubtedly part of Mona's plan was to eventually unite both halves of her team: Spencer and Toby. The only reason Spencer knew about Toby was because he'd joined after she had, and Mona had decided that the best way to keep the peace, at least to start with, was to make sure the other two didn't interact. Until she was sure of Toby's motivations, Mona hadn't wanted to put him on missions with Spencer; there was every chance that once he found out Spencer was on the team, it would be enough to turn him away from it. But he'd proven himself now; by kidnapping Spencer, he'd shown that he would put the team above his relationship. So it was only a matter of time before Mona let Toby in on their little secret.

"What do you think, Spence?" Hanna asked, drawing Spencer back into the conversation.

She struggled to recall the last thing that had been said. "I don't think it would be wise to go after A," she said cautiously. "Short of killing them, I don't know if there's a way we can stop Mona and Toby."

"So we just sit and wait and hope they get bored of us?" Aria asked, raising an eyebrow.

"They kidnapped you, Spence," Emily reminded her. "We can't just do nothing."

"But what you're suggesting is foolish at best," Spencer pointed out.

"And at worst?" Emily prompted, sounding very much like she didn't want to hear the answer.

Spencer ran her tongue along her teeth, thinking. "Suicidal."

The others fell silent as the implications of this sunk in. Hanna, Emily, and Aria were all thinking about how they were going to protect themselves – and their loved ones – against A. Spencer, meanwhile, was keeping an eye on the time. She had a meeting with Mona in less than half an hour, and she needed to come up with a plausible excuse as to why she had to leave. The girls had been watching her closely for the past week, worried that the strain of everything that had happened would cause her to break down. She appreciated their concern, but it did make keeping her A-Team involvement secret a little more difficult.

The conversation continued along this vein for another fifteen minutes, with Spencer contributing as little as possible. The easiest way to keep her secret was to maintain her silence, and the others just mistook her reticence for residual uneasiness, which she was more than entitled to. Finally she stood to leave, and the others turned to her.

"I have to study for that Trig test tomorrow," she explained, which she was actually intending on doing after the meeting.

"Okay," Aria said as Spencer headed for the door. "Call us if you need, all right?"

"Of course," Spencer replied smoothly, although she knew that she wouldn't take them up on that offer.

As the door swung closed behind her she heard Emily ask, "Are you guys sure she's going to be okay?"

Spencer couldn't help but think that they should be less concerned about her safety and more worried about their own.

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**So there's the first chapter. What did you think? Interested in reading more? Let me know, and I hope to see you all soon!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Great to see you all, and thanks for the reviews. Here's the next chapter. Be sure to let me know what you think.**

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It was easy enough to disappear when you had no one who would notice your absence.

In the week since Spencer had 'escaped', Mona had been the only person Toby had had any contact with. She'd expressly forbidden him from talking to Spencer, which was killing him. He'd known that she would have to find out about his A-Team involvement at some point, but he'd always hoped it would be on his terms – and instead it had been on Mona's. He'd considered going over to Spencer's to try and talk to her, but what was he supposed to say? There was no excuse for what he'd done, and he had a feeling Spencer wouldn't listen if he tried to come up with one. Apologies, explanations, excuses – she wouldn't want to hear any of it. And after what he'd done, he didn't blame her.

And besides, Mona was watching him. If she saw him approach Spencer after he'd been explicitly told not to – well, he didn't want to think about that. He hadn't been on the team long, so he knew that part of the reason he'd been assigned this mission was to make sure he was willing to do whatever it took to stay loyal to the team. And, ironically, that was the only way to keep Spencer safe. But in saving her he might have lost her, and it was in these grim thoughts he himself was lost as he walked up to the house that night, already clad in his black hoodie.

Mona answered at once, ushering him in without a word. He followed her down the hall to the living room, their usual meeting place. The room was almost intimately small, and the only furniture was a bookshelf in the far corner, and two armchairs facing each other across a small glass coffee table. The window, opposite the door, was obscured by thick maroon drapes, so that the entire room had a glum, underground kind of feel.

Toby sat down in the nearest chair and Mona, after closing the door carefully behind her, took up the other one. She was wearing her red coat rather than her black hoodie, which was usually a bad sign; the black was practical, the red almost ceremonial. She only really wore it when she wanted to reinforce the idea that _she_ was the one in charge. Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she leaned forward and her eyes swept over him, making his spine tingle uncomfortably.

"Have you heard from Spencer?" she asked, leaning back again as though satisfied with what she'd seen in him.

He shook his head, trying not to let on just how much her presence unsettled him. They'd been working together for a while now, but he still found her as intimidating as he had that first day she'd approached him about joining the team. "I haven't heard anything from her," he said. After a moment's consideration he added, "Emily has tried to call me, though."

"Has she?" Mona said, seeming unsurprised. "I'm sure Spencer has told them by now. So you're not going to be able to get close to her again – either as 'A' or as her boyfriend."

"After what I did, I'm probably not her boyfriend anymore," Toby said bitterly, a pang of remorse spiking across his chest. It didn't seem fair that the only way to keep her safe was to keep her at a distance, and let her think he'd betrayed her.

Mona waved her hand, indicating that she wasn't much concerned with the issue. "So the question remains, what do we do about the situation?"

"Your main goal hasn't changed?" Toby asked, pulling off his black gloves and setting them carefully on the arm of the chair. Every time, he foolishly hoped that taking off the black clothes – the hoodie, the gloves, even the shoes he only ever wore when he was on a mission – would somehow clean his soul, like shedding those symbols of his allegiance would negate all of the horrible things he'd done.

"It hasn't, and it won't," Mona said. "It's the entire reason I started this team, so I'm not about to go changing it."

Deciding to try his luck – what more did he have to lose, anyway? – Toby said, "And you're still not going to tell me what it is?"

"Need to know," Mona said simply. "I'll tell you when I think you'll need the information. Currently you don't, so there's no reason to show you all my cards."

There was no point in pushing the issue, so Toby let it slide. "So what are your next steps going to be, captain?"

"I've set a date for the final plan," she said, pulling small leather-bound diary from the pocket of her hoodie. She laid it on the table and pointed to a date two weeks from today.

"Two weeks?" Toby said, raising his eyebrow as he shifted his gaze upward to meet Mona's eyes. "Why so soon?"

"Our position is compromised. Now that Spencer knows who we are – and undoubtedly she's told the other girls – there's not much point in continuing the way we're going. My…" She paused, searching for a suitable word; she finally went on carefully, "_contact_ has said that it's time to proceed with the plan, if I think I'm ready."

"And are you?"

Mona looked at the date in the diary. Then she picked up a red pen and circled the date a few times, her smile growing more sinister with each one. "I'm ready," she said, setting the pen down again. "We just need to get a few things in position, and then we'll be ready to proceed."

Toby swallowed around the lump in his throat, already feeling terrified at what was going to happen. He had no idea who Mona's 'contact' was or what her final plan might be, but they both filled him with a dim sense of dread. But if he was going to have any chance of keeping the girls safe, he needed to see this through. "So what do I have to do?"

Ten minutes later he was leaving the house, armed with new information and a new mission, and he had never felt more desperate. If he went against Mona, she would retaliate without hesitation, and the girls would get hurt. But if he went along with her plan, they were probably going to die anyway.

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**Don't forget to review, and I'll see you all next time.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys. Thanks for the reviews. Quick announcement: this was originally meant to be the middle story in a set of three, but I've decided to just make it a sequel and not continue. So what does this mean? Basically this story will be longer than planned, but the series will be shorter. It won't really affect you guys much, other than now you won't have to wait between stories two and three, so there's that. Anyway. Here's your chapter.**

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The night was bitingly cold, but Spencer liked it.

Wind tugging at her hair, air so cold it made her shiver. This was almost enough to take her mind off the weight that was dragging her down, the weight of secrets and secret identities and uncertainty about where it was all leading her.

Although it wasn't strictly necessary, Spencer pulled over a couple of blocks away from the house and used a public restroom to get changed into her A-Team gear. Mona didn't actually insist on her wearing this attire to meetings, but she did anyway. For one thing, Mona was always wearing _her_ black hoodie – or in some cases even the red coat – and Spencer didn't want to accidentally make some kind of statement, some unconscious allegiance to her friends rather than the team. And the other reason was simply clarity.

When she was with her friends, in her 'street' clothes, she was Spencer, captain of the debate team, member of the field hockey squad, and her razor-sharp wit was the only thing she would ever use to hurt people – and even then, only sparingly. When she was in her street clothes she was a good person, a good friend, a good girlfriend – as far as everyone else knew. But the second she slid into her A-Team clothes – the black pants, hoodie, and gloves – she was someone else entirely. She was 'A', omniscient tormentor, silent watcher, the mind behind plans that would cause more damage than her friends would be able to clean up. She wasn't a good person, but she was good at what she did.

It was easier this way, having a divide in her mind. It meant she was less likely to slip up, to switch personas – to make Mona think she liked the girls, or to tip the girls off about her involvement with Mona. Two halves of a whole, and she could flip between them like a switch. It was only a matter of time before the lines became blurred, but she didn't like to think about that.

When Spencer arrived at the house, Mona let her in right away, in a suspiciously good mood.

"Coffee?" Mona offered while Spencer settled down in the armchair.

"Sure," Spencer said, startled, and watched through the open door as Mona made her way around the kitchen. She'd been working with Mona almost since the start, and she couldn't remember the last time Miss Red Coat herself had ever offered to make coffee. And generally the things that put Mona in a good mood were not the kind of things that anyone else would find pleasant.

"Here you go," Mona chirped, setting down a cup down on the table in front of Spencer, who looked at it suspiciously. "No cream or sugar, right?" Mona asked, stirring a spoonful of sugar into her own mug.

"That's right." Spencer picked up her cup and took a tentative sip, half-expecting this to be a practical joke or a murder attempt – either one was possible with Mona. But all she tasted was coffee, and a minute passed without any ill effects. Maybe Mona had been serious when she'd said they were equals now.

For a couple of minutes they sipped their drinks in silence, and Spencer couldn't even begin to guess what the other girl was thinking – and she wasn't sure she'd want to anyway.

"So what's on the agenda tonight?" Spencer asked after a while.

Mona shifted her gaze away from the bookshelf, where she'd been absently flicking her eyes over the titles, and focused on Spencer. "Given the events of last week, I think it's time we change tactics."

Spencer set her cup down, raising an eyebrow. "How so?"

"The girls know who we are now – well, me and Toby anyway," Mona said, and Spencer nodded. "It was about time they found out; hopefully they'll take so long processing the news that by the time they've accepted it, we'll already be ready for the last plan."

"Which is?" Spencer prompted, trying her best to sound casual. Mona had never revealed her entire plan to Spencer, although she had become better about giving compliments. Instead of just 'You should have trashed the room more' or 'Couldn't you have made them scream a _little_ bit louder?' it was 'I like the way you wrote the note in the mirror' or 'The way you stole that diary from under their noses was priceless'.

Mona ignored the question, pulling out a small notebook and laying it down on the table instead. "This is when we're going to be finishing it all," she said, pointing to a date that had been circled several times.

"So soon?" Spencer said, surprised. She'd assumed there was more time to prepare, more time to understand. But if Mona wanted to finish it, then she wasn't going to argue. She just didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

"There's no sense in waiting around," Mona said. "We're almost ready."

Spencer opened her mouth to ask a question about it, but Mona spoke first.

"But before that, there's one more thing to take care of." She closed the book and leaned back, crossing one leg over the other and regarding Spencer calmly. "We've established that Toby isn't loyal to the team. He's on the girls' side – he thinks he's on your side."

Spencer ducked her head, as much in acknowledgement as out of shame. Tricking Toby wasn't something she was proud of, but she needed to keep her secret identity, well, _secret_ from him; there was no other way around it.

"I think he's become a liability," Mona went on bluntly. "We need to do something about him. Something… permanent. Something to get him out of the picture entirely."

It took a moment for the words to tumble into order in Spencer's mind, but once they did she had to stop a gasp of surprise. Making sure her voice was steady, she said carefully, "You mean… kill him?"

"Oh no," Mona said smoothly, with the ghost of a smile. "We're not monsters."

Dizzying relief washed over Spencer, but it was erased entirely by Mona's next words, said, of course, with a smile.

"We're not going to kill him. But he is going to have an unfortunate… accident." Leaning forward, Mona's smile widened. "So here's what we're going to do…"

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**Enjoy, review, you know the drill.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Come on guys, you can do better than that. Thanks to the two people who did leave a review, you guys are great. I've finished writing this story so I can update as often as you guys want, so show me some love and I'll reward you with quick updates. Enjoy the chapter, and please do review.**

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There were limits, Toby knew. He just didn't know where they were anymore.

He had only ever been on the A-Team to protect Spencer and the other girls; that was his only interest. He'd managed to fool Mona into thinking that he wanted to get back at them for all they'd done under Ali's rule, but he wasn't sure he'd be able to keep it up forever. From the beginning he had vowed that he was going to do whatever it took to protect Spencer, but the problem was that now he wasn't so sure he would get the chance.

He'd been horrified when Mona had pitched the plan to him. She'd called it Operation Blackbird, but he'd had no idea why; although he supposed it was better than Operation Kidnap Your Girlfriend. Names aside, the plan had been unthinkable, especially since part of it had been to reveal himself to Spencer. To give up the secret he'd been holding onto in order to protect her. To give up any chance of a happy ending for them, because the second she saw who he really was, she would leave him. And, according to Mona's instructions, he wasn't allowed to explain himself. He would have to let Spencer hate him, so that he could save her.

After the meeting with Mona, Toby sat in his car for a few minutes. He flicked through radio stations, magazines, apps on his phone, all in a vain attempt to distract his mind from what Mona had told him. From what he had to do. He couldn't talk to Spencer, because even if he tried to warn her she wouldn't listen to him, not after what he'd done. The other girls would feel the same, because there was no doubt Spencer had told them. Which left Toby stranded between the camps, lost in no man's land, trying to do the right thing but rapidly losing sight of what that was.

Even as he was thinking it, there was a rare moment of lucidity, of the universe trying to restore the balance, because the next song on the radio was one he knew all too well. It was the one that had been playing on one of his first dates with Spencer. As he closed his eyes now he could picture the scene: candlelit restaurant, the hum of conversation, music playing in the background. And most of all, the way Spencer had looked at him, like nobody had ever looked at him before. So differently to the way she had looked at him the night he'd kidnapped her, the way she would always look at him from now on.

He turned the radio up, leaning back in his seat and letting the words wash over him, letting himself get lost in the feelings it brought up. As it reached its crescendo, blasting so loudly he could almost swear he felt the car actually rocking with the vibrations, he reminded himself why he was doing this. Why he had to do unthinkable things to somebody he loved more than he had ever loved anyone.

Toby sat there in silence for a minute after the song ended, and then he reached into his pocket, searching for his wallet. To his surprise he found his pocket empty, and realized he must have left his wallet back at the house. He and Mona had talked for a while, and to get more comfortable on the chair he'd emptied his pockets. He'd thought he'd collected everything back from on top of the table, but apparently not.

He didn't want to go back in to see Mona, but he couldn't leave his wallet behind. Reluctantly he got out of the car, letting the door slam closed behind him. He started at the sound, suddenly remembering where he was. This place was always hushed, quiet with the weight of secrecy, and it didn't feel right to disturb it. But then again, it was far enough out of town that nobody would be here when they didn't have to be. And he hadn't noticed anyone else come out this way, so it was probably only Mona – and there was no way anything could catch her off guard.

With a shrug he set off back toward the house at a brisk pace, suddenly noticing just how cold it was. He hadn't realized earlier, because he'd been so intent on getting this meeting over with, but now he was almost shivering. Without thinking he flipped the hood up, hoping to block out most of the wind. He tried not to let himself think about the symbolism of this; god, how he hated that black hoodie.

As he approached the house he thought for a moment that he heard voices, but that didn't make any sense. Mona was the only one out here – who else would be in the A-Team's lair? Maybe she was on the phone… Toby leaned against the door and listened for a minute, and realized he could definitely hear the murmur of two different voices. Mona wasn't here alone.

Heart pounding, Toby stepped back from the door. He couldn't hear what they were talking about, and he was reasonably confident that he didn't want to know. Whatever Mona had to say couldn't be good. He ran through a few quick scenarios in his mind. He could get back in his car and drive away, come back for his wallet tomorrow; if he didn't interrupt, he couldn't get in trouble. He could walk in anyway, bold as brass, and hope that Mona didn't shoot him on the spot. He could creep around the back and try to get a better idea of who was in there; maybe if he knew who Mona was in league with – was this her 'contact'? – he'd stand a better chance of shutting down the A-Team before anyone got really hurt.

Deciding on the latter, he started to walk around the back, but before he could take more than two steps the front door opened. Toby froze, glancing up from under his hood at the person standing in the doorway. He'd been expecting Mona, but the person standing before him was definitely not the sociopathic leader of a group designed to torture a bunch of high schoolers.

No, the person in front of him was none other than Spencer, the girl he'd kidnapped, the girl he was in love with. The girl who was now staring at him in mute horror.

Toby cleared his throat, about to make some excuse. But then he realized that she was wearing the same thing as him: black from head to toe, including the infamous hoodie. He closed his mouth, speechless, a thousand thoughts running through his head.

What the hell was going on here?

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**Uh oh. What do you guys think will happen now?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the slow update; life sucks. Thanks for the reviews, enjoy the next chapter, and don't forget to let me know what you think.**

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Stepping out the door from her meeting with Mona, feeling exhilarated and apprehensive, Spencer was in no way prepared for what she saw. Toby was standing in front of her, his face a mask of perfect shock, his expression clear even though his hood cast shadows across his features. Spencer came to a dead stop, staring at him in horror, unable to think of a single thing to say. She glanced down and realized that she was still wearing her A-Team attire; there was no way she'd be able to talk her way out of this.

Making a snap decision, she quietly closed the door behind her and hurried down the steps. "We need to go," she said, grabbing Toby's arm with one gloved hand. "Come on."

She started to lead him away, but after a step he pulled back, yanking his arm out of her grip. She turned back and saw that although he seemed more composed now, the shock hadn't faded from his eyes. "What's going on?" he demanded.

Casting a nervous glance back at the house, where Mona may very well be listening, Spencer shook her head. "Not here," she said urgently. "I can explain, but not right now."

This seemed to be enough to melt Tony's major reservations, because he followed her without another word. She led him down the trail and back toward her car, her heart beating rapidly in her chest.

"You're A," he said faintly, and it was the first time Spencer had ever heard the words, had ever seen someone react to her double identity.

"So are you," she shot back, but her voice was more tense than light.

They climbed into her car and she pulled out into the street, heading for the only safe place she could think of. Toby, recognizing where they were going, didn't say anything about it.

"How long have you -" Toby started, sounding unsure.

Spencer glanced at him, pressing her foot down lightly on the brake as they rolled to a halt at a Stop sign. "Longer than you," she said simply, nudging the car forward and glancing both ways before taking the corner.

"And how long have you known about me?" Toby asked, his eyes taking in the street signs on either side of them.

"A while." Spencer pursed her lips, working hard to keep her hands steady on the steering wheel. This wasn't how it was supposed to go.

Apparently those were Toby's two most pressing questions, because he fell silent as they wended their ways through the streets of Rosewood, which were quiet and dark and, although Spencer hated to admit it, slightly spooky.

The silence wasn't broken until they pulled up at the Rosewood Motel.

"I have a room here," Toby said, producing a key from his pocket. In response to Spencer's questioning look, he explained, "Mona knows about the other two hotels. Not this one. Sometimes I need somewhere… private."

Spencer spread her hands wide, in a 'lead the way' gesture, and the two of them made their way down to room 152. Once they were inside, the door closed behind them and the lights flickering above them, Spencer felt herself begin to break down. She was supposed to be in control, so how had she ended up here? If Mona knew she was talking to Toby, she would probably kill them both.

"Do you want some coffee or anything?" Toby asked, heading to the small kitchen area. "I don't have much, but…"

"Coffee would be great," Spencer said gratefully, and a few minutes later he was pushing a warm mug into her hands. She wrapped her fingers around it, inhaling deeply, and felt the tiniest bit better.

"So." Toby looked at her evenly, although she could see the stirrings of misgivings in his eyes.

"So," she said. When Toby didn't speak, she sighed. "I should have told you before."

"You should have," Toby agreed, sounding more confused than hurt. "But I know why you didn't."

Spencer, who had been staring into the depths of her coffee, looked up at him in surprise.

"Mona's always watching," Toby said softly. "If she didn't want me to know about you, then it was safer for you not to tell me."

He'd hit the nail on the head, but somehow it didn't make Spencer feel any better. "I hated keeping it from you," she said.

Toby didn't acknowledge this. "So the kidnapping plan…?"

"All Mona's idea," Spencer assured him quickly. "I'm sorry I had to pretend that I… But it was the only way to keep us safe."

"So you don't hate me," he said, and it took a second for Spencer to understand his train of thought.

Of course, she realized. After the kidnapping, when he'd seemingly been revealed as A, he would have thought that Spencer hated him; he would have had no idea that she was in on it. "Of course I don't hate you," she said. She hesitated a second, and then reached out and rested her hand on his. "I was just playing the part."

Toby nodded, understanding, but she could still see the doubt in his face. "Why?"

Blinking, Spencer struggled to understand this latest jump. Then she realized the one thing he would be asking her. "Answers," she stated. "Mona said that if I helped her, she'd give me answers."

"About what?"

Spencer swallowed, debating on whether or not to tell him the truth. "Alison," she admitted at last. "About who killed her, and why."

"Mona knows who killed Alison?"

"Yeah." Spencer took a deep breath, wondering why opening up like this was only causing her to feel more stressed. Wasn't the truth supposed to set you free? "There's more," she went on, looking away as Toby's eyes widened in surprise. "Mona's next plan is… There's no easy way to say this…"

"Just say it."

"Mona wants to kill you," Spencer said in a rush, hoping that would take some of the sting out of her words. It didn't, and she still had to watch as Toby's face went deathly pale. "There's going to be time for explanations and apologies later, but for now we just need to keep you safe."

"And how do you propose we do that?" Toby asked, his voice strangely calm considering the circumstances.

Spencer had been thinking about this ever since Mona revealed her plan to her, and this was the only solution she'd been able to come up with. As far as solutions went it wasn't the best, but it was better than nothing. "Run," she said shortly. "Get out of town as fast as you can, and don't look back."

"Spencer, I'm not going to leave you -" he protested.

"You have to," Spencer interrupted. "Your life depends on it – and mine might as well."

"You'll be in danger if I leave."

"We're in danger anyway."

Toby frowned, and tried again. "Mona's going to know something's up."

"Not if you don't tell her. You're off the radar anyway; it'll take so long for her to realize you're actually gone that she won't notice until her final plan."

"I'm not leaving you here," Toby said firmly, giving her a familiar look.

She had seen that expression on him so many times, and this was the first time it hadn't made her back down at once. "You have no choice. You need to leave."

"Spencer -"

"She's going to kill you!" Spencer burst out, abandoning all pretence of calmness. "Toby, if you don't leave Rosewood, Mona is going to _murder_ you. Do you not understand that?"

"What I understand is that if I _do_ leave, she's probably going to kill _you_," Toby shot back. "All of you. Emily, Aria, Hanna. Mona's going to go after all of them, and you, and I won't be able to protect you."

Toby's words made Spencer flinch, but she wasn't backing down. She took a deep breath, looked him in the eye, and said, "Just this once, let me protect you."

Before he could respond she stood up and walked to the door, barely taking a second to take in his shocked expression. She paused at the door and glanced back at him, but by then he'd managed to compose his look into one of frustration rather than hurt.

"Don't come back until I tell you it's safe," she said, and then she was gone.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

**See you next time!**


End file.
